North Carolina Home Processing (2026): How the Kitchen Inspection Works

North Carolina doesn't have a cottage food law. Instead, the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS) Food and Drug Protection Division runs a home processing program. It treats your kitchen as a small food manufacturer under federal Good Manufacturing Practices (21 CFR 117 Subpart B). There's no permit and no state sales cap. The program allows retail and wholesale sales, but you can't start until your kitchen passes an inspection.

Step 1: Is your product low-risk?

Only shelf-stable foods that need no refrigeration or freezing qualify. NCDA&CS lists:

• Baked goods that don't need refrigeration
• Jams, jellies, and preserves
• Candies, including freeze-dried candies
• Dried mixes and spices
• Some liquids, such as iced tea, coffee, and lemonade
• Some sauces, such as balsamic dressing
• Acid and acidified foods, such as pickles and BBQ sauce

Sauces and acidified foods are evaluated first.

Not allowed: refrigerated or frozen products, low-acid canned foods, dairy, seafood, bottled water or juice, and baked goods with cream or cream cheese fillings, including cheesecake.

Step 2: The pet question

If a pet comes into your home at any time, even only at night, you can't manufacture food there under this program. NCDA&CS treats indoor pets as pests under the GMP rules. This rules out more applicants than anything else.

Step 3: Kitchen standards

The inspector checks for:

• Smooth, easily cleanable food-contact surfaces
• No insects or rodents
• Hot and cold running water
• Handwashing at a separate sink (the kitchen sink is for food prep only)
• Thermometers in the refrigerator and freezer
• Proper sewer or septic disposal
• Shielded or shatter-proof light bulbs

The inspection may include where you store ingredients, and the outside foundation.

Step 4–6: Local approval, water, business plan

- Confirm with your county planning or zoning office, and your HOA or landlord, that a home food business is allowed. - Send a recent water bill. On a private well, include a certified coliform and E. coli test from within the past year. Store-bought kits aren't accepted. - Write a business plan that lists: - Each product - Every ingredient and its supplier - Storage - Production flow and equipment - Transport - Where you plan to sell

Product testing

Acidified foods, dressings and sauces, homemade cream cheese frostings, "moist" breads, cakes, and some pies may need pH or water activity testing. The testing lab issues a Process Authority Letter, which you include with your application. Acidified food makers may also need an Acidified Food Course certificate.

Applying and waiting

Email the application to homeprocessing@ncagr.gov, or mail it. NCDA&CS says to expect contact 8–12 weeks after it receives the application, sometimes longer. Inspectors don't issue a permit. You get the inspection report and a "Notice of Inspection".

Where you can sell

The program covers retail from home, farmers' markets, local businesses, restaurants, and wholesale. Products can be shipped, but shipped products must be labeled. Keep sales within North Carolina unless you've confirmed the federal requirements.

The North Carolina label

A label is required when products are:

• Individually packaged for self-service
• Sold wholesale to stores, distributors, or restaurants
• Shipped by USPS, FedEx, or similar

The label shows:

1. Product name
2. Manufacturer's name and address
3. Net weight in ounces or pounds and the gram equivalent
4. A complete ingredient list in order of predominance, with sub-ingredients in parentheses
5. Allergens in the ingredients or a "Contains" statement: milk, egg, tree nuts by type, wheat, soy, peanuts, sesame, fish by species, and shellfish

No label is needed for on-demand direct sales, such as pickups, deliveries to the customer, or event deliveries, or for products handed over from behind the counter at a market. Ingredient information must be available on request.

Nutrition Facts

NCDA&CS says nutrition labels are not required under the home processor program, unless you make claims such as "low fat" or "sugar free". In that case you must add one. Our standard vertical format covers most products.

Official source

NCDA&CS — Home Processor program. Phone (984) 236-4820.